Refrigerating apparatus including a cabinet having means for suspending it from the wall of a space to be cooled



Nov. 22,1949 5. s. CORHANIDIS 2,489,009

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS INCLUDING A CABINET HAVING MEANS FOR SUSPENDINGIT FROM THE WALL OF A SPACE TO BE COOLED Filed June 11, 1948 3Sheets-Sheet .l.

INVENTOR.

1949 s. CORHANIDIS 89,009

5. REFRIGERATING APPARATUS INCLUDING A CABINET HAVING MEANS FORSUSPENDING IT FROM THE WALL OF A SPACE TO BE COOLED Filed June 11, 19483 Sheets-Sheet 2 as 5 9'6 JNVENTOR.

w iw Nov. 22, 1949 s. s. CORHANIDIS REFRIGERATING APPARATUS INCLUDING ACABINET HAVING MEANS FOR SUSZENDING IT FROM THE WALL OF A SPACE TO BECOOLED 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 11, 1948 INVENTOR. 5. Corfian zdL s,

- freezer unit.

Patented Nov, 22, 1949 CABINET HAVING ME ING IT FROM THE BE COOLED ANSFOR SUSPEND- WALL OF A SPACE TO Sbastien S. Corhanidis, Athens, GreeceApplication June 11, 1948, Serial No. 32,480

12 Claims.

1 This invention relates to refrigerating systems in which one or morerefrigerator chambers may be maintained within a predetermined range oflow temperatures by a single detachable refrigeratin unit. Moreparticularly it relates to a refrigerating unit which is readilyadaptable to provide regulated freezing or cooling temperatures in anyinsulated box or chamber without taking up any space within said box orchamber, and which may be instantly detached without having any openingin the insulation enclosing said chamber. It may serve as the solesupply of cooling means for the box or chamber, or as an auxiliary forsupplying additional cooling means to an overloaded box or chamber orwhen additional quick freezing or cooling is desired.

The object of this invention is to build a compact and complete freezingunit and means for quickly and easily adapting it for detachableattachment to any insulated compartment for reducing its temperature toany desired degree and maintaining said low temperature automatically ina most economical manner.

A further object is to arrange the parts of the above unit so as to forma compact, rugged, but smooth box-like assembly having adjacent inletand outlet ports in one side, and to provide corresponding inlet andoutlet grids and hinge pins for installation in a suitable portion ofthe wall of the insulated compartment, and complementary hinge hangerson said assembly to hang it instantly and to enable it to be swungagainst the compartment wall so that the inlet and outlet ports andgrids register and form continuous corresponding ducts for withdrawingthe air from the compartment and returning it thereto after it had beencooled in the cooling chamber of the A further object is to provide adoor for the grid openings in the compartment wall which is swingableout of the way of the refrigerating unit when mounted in place.

A further object is to provide a lock on the compartment wall forholding the refrigerating unit firmly in place when it is swung intooperating position:

A further object is to insulate the cooling chamber in the above unitfrom the rest of the assembly, and providing a blower in said chamberfor causing the fiow of air above referred to, driving said blowerthrough a shaft passing through the insulation by a motor in saidassembly outside said chamber.

A further object is to arrange a conventional type in a space in-saidassembly below said cooling chamber, with a collector pan at the bottomalong one side of said space, and a drain pipe from a drip pan under thecooling coils in the cooling chamber, emptying into said collector: pan,to leave said side of the space open, place a dust screen across saidopening, an air moistening means dipping into said collector pan behindsaid dust screen, and a cooling coil for the refrigerant behind said airmoistenin means, and to provide an outlet opening in another side ofsaid space and a fan driven by a separate motor, mounted behind saidopening for drawing ambient air into said space through said dustscreen, air moistening means and cooling coil,

and exhausting it through said outlet opening.

A further object is to provide an adjustable temperature control switchon the outside of said cooling chamber having a sensitive elementextending through the chamber insulation, into the airstream therein.

A further object is to provide in the above as sembly a switch operatedin response to swinging the unit into operating position against theinsulated compartment to turn on the motorcompressor combination, so asto automatically turn it off when the assembly is swung out and topermit quick defrosting of the refrigerating unit by blowing the ambientair through the cooling chamber.

Other and more specific objects of this invention will become apparentin the following demotor compressor combination of the sealed unittailed description of one embodiment illustrating the present invention,having referenceto the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the device applied to aninsulated compartment or refrigerator,

Figure 2 is an enlarged partial detail perspective view of the inlet andoutlet parts and grids, hingepins and hangers, and a portion of the doorfor the grid opening, a

Figure 3 is a detailed sectional view taken on the lines 33 of Figures 1and 4, and

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the lines 4-4 of Figures 1 and 3.

The box I of Fig. 1 may be any type of insulated compartment orrefrigerator, and may be only one of a number of similar or difierenttypes of insulated compartments to be supplied with refrigeration by thesame demountable refrigerating unit 2. It will be understood that thebox I of Fig. 1 is only illustrative and may comprise a room, chamber,cell or any single or multiple enclosure that may or may not beinsulated.

n 3 In this illustrated e bodiment the refrigerating unit is applied onone side of the compartment near the top. but it may be applied at anyother suitable location on any side of the compartq ment. n

The application of this unit to any insulated compartment is made bysimply cutting out the wall of the compartment at a suitable location,to the size of the grid port frame 3 to be installed therein by means ofthe frame fastening screws 4. This frame has two adjacent port openings5 and i with grids l and 8 respectively therein for guiding thedirection of the air flowing therethrough.

The frame 3 is provided with hinge pins 9 for the hinge hangers ID onthe refrigerating unit 2. On the other side the frame" has a'hinged door'H mounted on spring loaded hinges Ila closing the port openings 5 and6, but swingable to open position out of the way of the refrigeratingunit when it is swinging on its hinges into operating position with itsinlet and outlet ports 12 and II respectively registering with the ports5 and 8. .The refrigerating unit is held firmly in this position by anysuitable means such as the trip lock II, the resilient insulating gasketl5 which is fixed to the frame 3 providing a good seal for the ports.

- It may be seen from the above description that the installation of theunit on any given insulated compartment is a simple matter requiring nospecial skill and may be performed by any one having a few necessarytools. The unit has an ordinary electric cord l6 and plug I! which maybe connected to any electrical, outlet after the unit is installed. 7

The refrigerating unit 2 comprises a box-like outer casing 18 which hasthe cooling chamber IS in its upper part enclosed by an insulating wall20, except for the ports l2 and I3 which communicate with ports 5 and 5respectively. A centrifugal blower 2i is mounted in chamber IQ fordrawing air from the compartment I through the grids I in port opening5, the inlet port l2 and duct 22, and discharging it through the coolingcoils 23, port [3, port opening 6 and grids 8 back into the compartment.The grids 8 may be turned to any angle desired to provide a mosteffective circulation of the cooled air in the particular compartment towhich the unit is applied. The blower is driven by a motor 24 on theoutside of the insulating wall of chamber 19 through a shaft 25 passingthrough this wall. Also on the outside of the chamber l 9 in a spaceabove the motor is an electrically insulated panel 26 on which aremounted the relay 2'], capacitor 28, a thermal overload protector 29 andcontrol switch 30, which has its thermo-sensitive element 3| extendedthrough the wall 20 of chamber l9 into the path of the air flowing fromthe blower to the cooling coils.' The casing 18 has an inspectionopening opposite the panel 26, closed by a hinge plate 32 hung over it.The switch has contacts 33 connected by spring terminals 34 into thecontrol circuit in a conventional manner. The circuit connectionsbetween the several electrical elements are omitted for the sake ofsimplicity of illustration.

The space in the lower part of the refrigerating unit is occupied by acondensing unit which includes a sealed unit type motor compressorcombination 4|. One side of this space is left open, a dust screen 35being hung back of this opening. A drain collector pan 36 is mounted atthe bottom moistening ribbon 31 threaded over a frame 30 stretched.across the opening back of the dust screen and dipping into thecollector pan to soak up any accumulation of water therein. Back of thisframe 38 is the cooling coil 39 for the refrigerant. The condenser unitfurther includes a motor 40 which operates the fan 42, that drawsambient air through the dust screen, air moistening ribbon and coolingcoils and pushes it out the duct 43 in another side of said space. Thecompressed refrigerant reservoir 44 may be mounted under the motor 40. 1

A drip pan 4.: is mounted under the coolin coils 23. This drip pan has adrain pipe 46 with a liquid trap formed by a vertical loop 41, emptyinginto the collector pan 36. Any condensate or melted frost which dripsdown from the cooling coils into the drip pan drains down through thedrain pipe into the collector pan, where it is soaked up by the ribbon31 which gives it up to the air drawn through the dust screen in vaporform, thus cooling the air by extracting from it the heat ofvaporization and assisting in cooling the refrigerant in the coolingcoils 39 to a lower temperature. This increases the efficiency of thecooling means, while at the same time it automatically disposes of anycollected condensate in the collecting pan. It will be noted thatconventional connections between the various parts of the unit shown areomitted for the sake of clarity.

The-frame 3 has a lug 48 fixed to it at the bottom for cooperation witha switch 49 mounted on the refrigerating unit 2 to close the switch whenthe unit 2 is swung into locked operative position to complete the powersupply circuit to both the motor-compressor combination 4| and fan motor40 and to automatically disconnect this circuit when the unit is swungout, for stopping refrigeration while continuing the intake of air fromthe outside atmosphere by the motor operated blower 21 instead of fromthe insulated compartment and passing it through the cooling coils tohasten defrosting.

When the unit 2 is swung out sufllciently, the door I l is automaticallyclosed on the ports 5 and 6 without interference, so as to retaincomplete insulation for the insulated compartment, and the unit 2 mayremain on its hinge pins or be removed therefrom, as may be desired.

Obviously, a refrigerating unit of this type may also be used formaintaining room temperatures within comfortable limits on hot summerdays with a properly set temperature control switch.

Thus it will be seen that the present device provides not only forvarious systems of servicing more than one refrigerator or cooler with asingle detachable refrigerating unit, but also supplies a real need as aseparable unit which takes up no space inside the refrigeratorcompartment, which is compact and yet has those parts which needmaintenance readily accessible for servicing, adjustment or inspection,and may be'quickly replaced by a spare without the necessity of layingup the whole refrigerator while repairs are being made on itsrefrigerating apparatus, as is now normally necessary.

It is furthermore now possible to use an existing model ice box, and bythe application of the present device, convert it into an ieelessrefrigerator in short order at small expense, and simultaneously increasits cubic capacity by making use of the ice space.

New refrigerators built with the present realong the back of this screenand has an air frigerating unit applied thereto, have the advantage ofhaving a quick defrosting unit without the necessity of opening andwarming the refrigerator space.

As already mentioned, the present unit may be applied as a booster torefrigerators or quick freeze units, where needed. This. device has manyother obvious advantages.

Modifications in the details of this refrigerating unit may obviously bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention, asdefined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A refrigerating system comprising a closed compartment with anopening in a vertical wall thereof, a refrigerator including a cabinetdetachably mounted on said wall and positioned entirely externally ofthe compartment, a refrigerating circuit in said cabinet, the cabinethaving two chambers, one of said chambers in register with saidcompartment through said wall opening, said refrigerating circuitincluding an evaporator structure in the chamber communi eating withsaid compartment and a refrigerant llquifying apparatus in the otherchamber and connected to said evaporator and an air impeller, means fordirecting air discharged from the impeller through said opening intosaid compartment and means for directing air from said compartment tothe intake of said impeller, said evaporator being located in the pathof the air.

2. A refrigerating system as defined in claim 1, wherein a frame havingtwo adjacent ports therein is mounted in the opening in said compartmentwall, a door hinged at one side of said frame for closing said ports,and said refrigerator cabinet being detachably hinged at the other sideof said frame and having corresponding ports in the chamber housing theevaporator structure registering with said two adjacent ports when thedoor is swung out of the way and the refrigerator cabinet swung againstsaid wall.

3. The combination defined in claim 2, including a resilient gasket ofinsulating material fixed on said frame around said ports to form anairtight seal for the door or the refrigerating cabinet,'whichever isswung over said ports, and latch means on the wall of said compartmentfor holding said cabinet tightly in operative position against saidgasket.

4. The combination defined in claim 3, wherein said refrigeratingcabinet is a sturdy, compact, box-like assembly with the ports thereinbeing the inlet and outlet ports to the cooling chamber housing theevaporator structure and thermally insulated from the other chamber,said air impeller being driven by a motor outside of said chamberthrough a shaft passing through said insulation, an air passageway fromthe inlet port to the air impeller for drawing air therethrou'gh,

and blowing it out through the outlet port, and

a cooling coil in the path of air travel through the cooling chamber.

5. The combination defined in claim 4, including flow directing grids insaid pair of frame ports turned in suitable directions for getting the7. The combination defined in claim 6, wherein the refrigerantliquifying apparatus includes a motor-compressor combination in theother chamber of the cabinet which is partially open on one side, a dustscreen mounted in said opening, a cooling coil for the refrigerant backof said screen, an opening in another side of said chamber, and a fan insaid chamber driven by a motor for drawing ambient air through said dustscreen over said cooling coil and discharging it through said last namedopening.

. 8. The combination defined in claim 7, including a refrigerantreservoir mounted under the motor in said last named chamber.

9. The combination defined in claim '8, including a collector pan at thebottom of the last named cooling coils, a drip pan in said coolingchamber under said first named cooling coils for catching the condensateor melted frost during defrosting from the first named cooling coils,and a drain pipe. from said drip pan emptying into said collector pan.

10. The combination defined in claim 9, wherein said drain pipe has aliquid trap in the form of a vertical loop therein.

11. The combination defined in claim 10, including a frame back of saiddust screen dipping down into said collector pan, and an absorbentribbon threaded over said frame for soaking up any water that might bein said collector pan and exposing it to the air flow past the screen toimprove the cooling effect on said refrigerant cooling coils and todispose of said water accumulation automatically.

12. The combination defined in claim 4, wherein said blower is of thesquirrel cage centrifugal impeller type. and said air passageway leadinginto the center of the squirrel cage and being directed radiallythereof.

SEBASTIEN S. CORHANIDIS.

REFERENCES orrEn The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS DiZoppola Dec. 30, 1947

